After celebrating the arrival of the first Scottish settlers in Lochaber last month, the above picture was chosen as this month’s picture of the month. The distinguished-looking gentleman shown above is Alexander Manson (1793 – 1868) who left his home in Wick, Caithness, Scotland and settled in Nova Scotia. Although he himself didn’t make his home in Lochaber, it was his grandson, also Alexander and known as Sandy, who moved to Lochaber and built the beautiful Manson House, one of the oldest homes still standing in Lochaber and a recognized heritage home. Sandy Manson was a community leader in Lochaber during the 19th century who served as a Justice of the Peace as well as being a postmaster and carriage builder. Further information on the Manson family can be found on the Lochaber Rootsweb database “LCDA_database”, directions for which can be found on the Genealogy Forum Page.
Incidently, this photo was found among a stash of old family photos in the attic of a house which had belonged to his great-great-grandaughter, the late Laverne (Dewar) MacEachron. Fortunately, Laverne’s uncle had labelled the pictures with names and dates.